Culture of Cool

Why you should thank T.I. for all your favorite trap music

There has been plenty of debate about who started “Trap Music” But everyone seems to miss what’s most important about selecting a pioneer for the now Popular Genre in Hip hop.

People will say it was UGK. And as a big UGK fan i will say that they influenced all southern artist, but they called their music “Country Rap tunes” and if we say, “They were the first to talk about that type of stuff” we’d be wrong in saying that cause drug talk was prevalent in rap before them as well. The dungeon family coined the term “Trap” and “Dirty South” but their music was trap centered, it was soulful and innovative. The sound that they helped build would also shape the sound of the south but it’s not “Trap”.

Then there is Tip. For those of you born in 1995 Tip dropped his first album when you were 6 so you may not remember but the first sounds we really heard from Trap was his.

From 2001 – 2003, from I’m serious to In Da streets Vol 1.-3, is where the Trap sound that has evolved into today’s trap started.

Lets take “Dope Boys in the Trap” For example Circa 2001

Or lets go to Another original Trap song Dope Boy Fresh

Now where most of the States caught up to T.I and the Trap sound was when he dropped Trap Muzik fall of 2003. Hence the Title by the way. The bounce, and every sound is what shaped Trap music especially during this direct period. Almost every song was pertaining to the trap. From Be Easy, 24’s, Rubber band Man, Long Live Da Game, and probably the classiest of all trap songs, “Doin My Job

Now that you had a bit of a history lesson, lets bring in some trap heros you might feel should deserve some credit as well. Let start with Guwop better known as Gucci Mane. And Gucci is the “Trap God.” He has built an almost cult like following over the years but here is my thing. Trap house didn’t drop till 2005. Which is when all the Guwop heads can actually say they started to rock with Gucci.

Wop did put out an Album in 01′ La Flare, billed as “the first album ever recorded by Gucci Mane. La Flare features 14 tracks, recorded in 2001, that were pressed on 1,000 CDs and sold through the Atlanta region.

But what the world knows a s the Trap God didn’t break A cool four years after Tip. Jeezy who is the the most prolific trapper to rise in music originally dropped in 2001 known as Lil J and his street album “Thuggin Under The Influence.

And in 2003 he dropped Come shop with me

But none of those caught the attention of those outside of the south. Which is where my point lies with T.I being the Pioneer of the Sub Genre.

Think back to when baseball had no black players, There was an all white league and a negro league as well. Then Jackie Robinson was brought over to MLB as the first African American to play in the all white league. And the rest is history. Well if you ever talk to anyone who was alive or has knowledge of that time they will tell you, Jackie wasn’t the best black player out there. There were others. There was a whole league filled with them. Well why was Jackie chosen, because he was good and polished, and mentally prepared for the hell he was going to go through. And because he was all of that instead of just the best available, it made it easier for the other African Americans to follow. Basically MLB saw that baseball could work with Black players on the diamond.

Now the way I correlate that with Tip is, Record labels were not fucking with the trap sound and the South sound in Large. The reason Tip got a chance because he started out a pretty dope Lyricist, which was the only way in ther game back then.Atlanta wasn’t the Breeding hub for the Genre it is now, and the South was still fighting for Respect. Tip’s first album commercially flopped but he grinded the Album to success. He also grindind the ‘In Da Streets” Tapes to success and the labels took notice. And once Trap Mizik garnered success and money, the label saw that this was something profitable. Fast forward to now and it’s a million Lil somethins or whoever just trying to catch the wave with one song